The boys has discovered the tunnel system by accident, after Caroll fell down a hole while running through the wilds of the knowledge district. It had taken some effort to maneuver Cedric down, and upon realizing that there was probably an easier way to get back up, the trio decided to take the time to explore.
All three dragons were grateful for the dark vision their shadow eyes bestowed upon them, but even with the ability to see in the dark, their vision was limited. Caroll had taken the front, using his heightened sense of smell to navigate, while Dusk made himself comfortable on Cedric’s back and was beginning to crack jokes in various voices. He excelled at impressions, and soon found himself adopting different voices of their clanmates for each joke.
An hour passed, and what initially seemed like a grand adventure was beginning to grow more stale. They seemed utterly lost and even with Cedric’s natural snapper ability to recall paths, no one could figure out where they had come from. Caroll tried following their old scent trails, but they crossed each other so much it became difficult to figure out which scents were fresher than the others.
That was when they hit a dead end. The tunnel was blocked by what looked to be a cave-in. Dirt and rubble had poured from the ceiling above into a great heap, cutting off their scent trail entirely.
“What do we do now?” Cedric asked. Dusk shook his head, unable to figure out a plan.
“Do you think we just start digging?” Caroll asked, pawing at the dirt a little.
“We might just disrupt the whole thing and get buried, dude,” Dusk sighed. “We’re stuck.”
“Wait, what’s that sound?” Caroll asked.
The three boys fell silent. It sounded like there was someone on the other side of the cave-in, and they were digging. Unwilling to join in themselves in case they messed up the process, they waited until the digger broke through the other side. It was a ridgeback. She took one look at the three dragons, swore, then backed away quickly, throwing dirt onto something as it trying to hide it.
“Hold up, what’s going on?” Dusk asked, moving forward to investigate. The ridgeback moved herself so she was sitting on whatever she had been trying to cover, blocking it from view.
“You guys aren’t supposed to be here,” The ridgeback said gruffly.
“Oh yeah, well are you supposed to be here?” Dusk challenged.
“These are the ridgeback tunnels, doofus,” The ridgeback rolled her eyes.
“Um, guys? It kind of smells like Violet in here,” Caroll piped up nervously, taking a step forward.
“Violet?” Dusk narrowed his eyes at the ridgeback. “Have you seen a spiral around here? Purple? Light eyes?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” The ridgeback responded, very defensively.
“She’s definitely here,” Caroll added. “In fact she smells like she’s…” the tundra moved closer to the ridgeback, clearly following the scent trail. “Oh. Well that would explain the nasty smell.”
“What is it?” Dusk snapped.
“Violet’s, uh, well, she’s dead,” Caroll said shuffling back a little, looking at the ridgeback with fear.
“I had a feeling that fluffy twerp would figure it out,” The ridgeback sighed, moving off of the body she had been trying to conceal. “Yes, Violet or whatever her name is is dead. She was crushed by the cave-in. Are you happy now?”
“No, not really,” Dusk huffed. “Why should we take your word for it? You are acting awfully suspicious. How do we know you didn’t kill her?”
“Do I look like a killer?” The ridgeback snarled, lowering her head to meet Dusk’s. Her razor sharp teeth gleamed, and the nocturne could smell her breath. He wrinkled his nose.
“Uh, yeah, kind of,” Dusk shot back. “We know nothing about you! We know Violet got out of a nasty relationship with Jett, I heard my Aunt Karma talking about it. You could be an assassin, paid to get her out of the way.”
“You really think Jett is like that? The wimp?” The ridgeback huffed. “You really think I would do his dirty work?” She shook her head. “Get out of here, kids. This is beyond you. What is going on here is far more than you understand.”
“Then enlighten us,” Dusk shot back.
“Dusk, we should go,” Cedric said quietly.
“Not now Cedric, this is important!” Dusk growled.
“Yeah, but Caroll got freaked out by the death smell and he panicked and ran. We need to find him before he gets too lost,” Cedric explained.
“Oh, right,” Dusk said. “I’m not done with you!” He added, snarling at the ridgeback. You’re up to something fishy, I know it! I’ve seen you slinking around the city, like you’re up to no good.”
“Well whoop-de-do, what fine detective work!” The ridgeback whistled sarcastically. “Look, think whatever you want, but it’s not going to change anything. I didn’t kill her and I am just here to do some maintenance on the tunnels. Nothing more than that.”
“Likely story,” Dusk narrowed his eyes. “Come on Cedric, we’re going.”
The pair left, leaving Darkstar alone with Violet’s body. She sighed, hoisted the spiral over her shoulder, and made her way towards the tunnel’s exit. It was a bit of a stroll, but nothing she couldn’t handle. She just couldn’t wait to find a place to bury Violet and be done with it.
As the cool fresh air met her scales once more, she breathed a sigh of relief, before realizing that her surroundings had changed. Instead of a back alley street of the city, she stood in a thick forest grove. Either she had gotten lost, which was very unlikely, or the kingdom had moved while she was belowground. Which meant…
Darkstar cursed and returned to the tunnels. She was going to have to find those idiot boys before they got too far.
Caroll woke up feeling dizzy. He was in some sort of tent, lying on a soft portable mat and covered in a blanket. Everything smelled unfamiliar. Beside him was a bowl of vegetable soup with a few chunks of chicken floating around. He wrinkled his nose and the meat, then moved to get up, only to be shoved down by a colourful wildclaw before he could get anywhere.
“Woah, slow down!” The wildclaw exclaimed. “You hit your head pretty hard racing out of that tunnel! You knocked yourself out entirely! You’ve got to rest! Don’t worry! I’ll look after you! You’ve got nothing to worry about!”
“Have you seen Cedric? Or Dusk?” Caroll asked.
The wildclaw cocked her head in confusion. “No haven’t met them, sorry. It was just you. But it’s okay! We can find them! I’m sure we can!” She gestured at the bowl. “Eat something! You must be starving! I caught the chicken myself!”
“Oh, right,” Caroll said, trying to bring himself to take a sip.
“Oh, you’re vegetarian aren’t you? I forgot! I’m so sorry! I just had some extras from my dinner and-” The wildclaw babbled on.
“It’s okay,” Caroll smiled weakly, putting the bowl down. “How long have I been out? Where am I?” It sure smelled different from home.
“I don’t know, it had just gotten dark by the time you burst through, but I think the sun is coming up soon?” The wildclaw said. “You’re in the Sunbeam Ruins. And you’re in for a treat! The sunrise is really beautiful here!”
“The what?!” Caroll’s eyes widened.
“Where did you come from?” The wildclaw asked.
“The Tangled Wood,” Caroll felt faint.
“Oh,” The wildclaw said. “We're quite a ways from there. We're in the Hewn City. How did you get so far- Oh gosh, I completely forgot to ask your name!”
“I’m Caroll,” The tundra said. “And you are?”
“The name’s Tiffany, and I promise on my life that I will help you get home!” The wildclaw grinned, putting a hand over her heart. “Now, do you want to see that sunrise?”
Caroll had never seen a sunrise in his entire life. In fact, he’d never even seen the sun. But what did he have to lose? He wasn’t going to be getting home anytime soon.
“Sure, why not?” The tundra shrugged. Tiffany beamed as if he had just told her the best piece of news in all of Sornieth.
“So we-”
“Yeah-”
“And our magic combined to-”
“Yup-”
Jett didn’t respond, staring at the four eggs in front of him and Scoril. He and the skydancer had been growing closer lately, but he hadn’t expected this quite so soon.
Finally, he tore his eyes away from the eggs to face his best friend. She was beaming at him. He had never seen her so happy. And the way she looked at him made him feel a bit weak. Nobody had looked at him like that since Violet. He hadn’t felt these feelings since the night he and Seaberry had-
Gosh, she really loved him, didn’t she? She had always said it, but Jett had always assumed- He had always interpreted it as one friend to another. But she really loved him. Like really really.
Jett cracked a smile. “This is amazing,” He said.
“Isn’t it?” Scoril exclaimed, seeming relieved at his affirmation.
“Yeah, I mean, who better to raise a nest with? And I never really got to know Karma…” Jett pointed out. “And you’ve always been family. More so than Age or Juliette or any of the stuffy royals of the past. In a way, it’s always been just you and me, hasn’t it? This was always bound to happen.”
Scoril looked so happy that Jett thought she just might explode.
So yeah. That happened. The team was Seaberry (level 7), Karma (level 2) and Violet (level 1) and with Seaberry's level they had to brave the Woodland Path and I was fighting to keep Karma and Violet alive but then yeah... Sure shakes things up for this whole treasure-hunting arc, doesn't it?
And I figured it was time to give Jett and Scoril their nest and start making them a couple.
Also, introducing Tiffany! The dragon I was waiting for and couldn't introduce last update, when I got the familiar pull. Gosh, I sure have gotten a lot of nests and familiars lately.
I hope this next week I'll be able to write more, but I've also just hit the busy part of the semester so that might not be realistic.
If anyone wants to claim Violet, you have until 24:59 FR Time tomorrow (Saturday) to do so before she gets exalted.